Unfuck Your Body: Using Science to Eat, Sleep, Breathe, Move, and Feel Better

by Faith G. Harper

Is your body an asshole? Does it keep you up at night, crave nonstop French fries and ice cream, and try to convince you that exercise is evil? Does it develop weird illnesses and pains for no apparent reason and run out of energy just when you need it the most? Does having a body at all fill you with uncomfortable emotions? Enter Dr. Faith G. Harper, therapist, nutritionist, and bestselling author of Unfuck Your Brain. She explains the emerging science of the gut-brain connection and the vagus nerve so that everyone can understand what's going on in your body and how to make friends with it again, especially if you've experienced trauma or chronic stress. Filled with straight talk and practical exercises so you can reconnect with your physical needs and reactions, work through body shame, manage illness and disability, and implement small changes that make a huge difference in how you feel every day. You are a whole person and it's time to reconnect with yourself!

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Mental Health, Audiobook, Education

191 pages, Paperback

Published May 25, 2021

About the author

Faith G. Harper, PhD, LPC-S, ACS, ACN is a bad-ass, funny lady with a PhD. She’s a licensed professional counselor, board supervisor, certified sexologist, and applied clinical nutritionist with a private practice and consulting business in San Antonio, TX. She has been an adjunct professor and a TEDx presenter, and proudly identifies as a woman of color and uppity intersectional feminist. She is the author of the book Unf*ck Your Brain and many other popular zines and books on subjects such as anxiety, depression, and grief. She is available as a public speaker and for corporate and clinical trainings.

Reviews

[Nina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook for this one and it's so poorly edited. It's like they rushed through it and used first takes. She sounded frustrated and exhausted and it wasn't a pleasant listening experience.

[Kyle Hammond · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half is a big hit about the background on science of the vagus nerve and the brains connection to all these different organs, and how the fight flight response fits in there. Makes me wish I did biology!

But too much of the second half of this book feels like pseudo science which is a let down. Mentioning that certain ideas in this book don’t “align” with peer reviewed studies? Come on!

And not to be a stickler, but there was a weird amount of typos and grammar issues that actually interfered with my ability to understand what was written. Too bad!

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot here, I am glad that I read it and I am better for it but it was a lot of ideas briefly talked about. She goes over deep breathing, sleeping, mantras, exercise, eating and a bunch of other things that help you with stress. She has data to back up how important and useful these items are and decreasing mental stress that we may be putting on our body. I had some takeaways and have implemented and tried to do some of the strategies. It was a good book but a hard listen because I did the audiobook. She really goes into detail on what your body does when it is stressed and how it can impact our mental and physical state, however, you can get lost in the conversation and check out. The book was worth the work and it is short. I just wish that she went a little deeper or maybe just picked one topic. I don't know, didn't love it---didn't hate it but it was useful. So that's where I am at with this.

[Hollis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book was alright. I’m not going to act like I took absolutely nothing from this book, but it was a bit of a letdown for me. I listened to the audiobook and it seemed like the author would get tired of reading out loud. Occasionally, she would take a big sigh after a long sentence. She seemed tired and maybe irritated at times. Her cadence was also inconsistent. Girl, if you aren’t really feeling your own words, maybe hire someone else to read to your audience.

The first half of the book is dedicated into the science behind stress response and how the vagus nerve is involved, which was interesting to a point, but I did find myself spacing out at times.

The second half is recommendations on how to eat, sleep, move (exercise), and manage stress better. Though she says repeatedly that she wasn’t dogging western medicine, beneath the surface I felt a sense of… leaning away from it? Hard to explain. As a nurse I’m pro holistic care AND western medicine. There are benefits to both.
I totally agree with a lot of her points. People are terrible sleepers and sleep needs to be prioritized and good sleep hygiene needs to be talked about more. It really can make all the difference. She’s a nutritionist and I appreciate she was clearly NOT fat phobic and that she encouraged MOVEMENT not exercise.
Her entire section on supplements wasn’t for me. There’s definitely a time and place for supplements, but frankly a great majority of the time, paying for MOST supplements is a waste and there’s not enough data to truly support the grand majority of them or if they will safely interact with other supplements you want to take or your prescribed medications.

[Laura✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfuck Your Body: Using Science to Eat, Sleep, Breathe, Move, and Feel Better by Faith G. Harper aims to help readers improve their physical and mental health. It provides some useful scientific information about the vagus nerve, which is a part of the nervous system that connects the brain to various organs and regulates many bodily functions. The book explains how the vagus nerve affects our mood, digestion, immunity, inflammation, heart rate, blood pressure, and more. The book also offers mindfulness strategies, such as breathing exercises, meditation, yoga, gratitude, and self-compassion, that can help readers calm their nervous system, reduce stress, and enhance their well-being. But all these strategies are well-known to most who are interested in wellness.

The author uses a lot of profanity, slang, and informal language that may appeal to some readers but may also annoy or offend others. She also repeats herself a lot and sometimes does not provide enough evidence to support her claims. I listened to the audiobook read by the author and there were many unedited sections -- and she ends most of her sentences with an upward inflection making every sentence a question. The book also lacks a clear conclusion or summary that ties everything together.

It may be helpful for readers who are looking for a quick and easy introduction to the vagus nerve and mindfulness strategies. However, it may not be suitable for readers who are looking for a more professional or comprehensive approach to improving their physical and mental health.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have no problem with swearing. Yet, this is a constant thing: once the editor knows the book is crap, they start using expletives to make a dumb writer look ”non-conformist”.

Another rule of the thumb would be : all argument *should* be science. Whey the editor starts putting science on the cover in my experience translates in boring navel gazing. And it makes sense, the publishing industry is made mostly of English majors. And English majors are the people who could barely pass Math. So any sort of cherry picking, say Malcolm Gladwell is science. Notice that Gladwell doesn't have much ”science” pasted on the covers of his books, simply because he is readable enough not to need the smoke and mirrors.

And yes, this book is crap.

[Ace · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fine summary on body and brain science as it relates to chronic conditions & illness.

Full of mistakes and typos. The chronic pain science stuff wasn’t quite accurate. There were dozens of typos, including the word “service” instead of “surface”, which leads me to believe the book was dictated, not written. That would make a lot of sense, because there are plenty of errors that we accept in speech that we do not accept in written form, such as incomplete sentences i.e. phrases that are not sentences that are framed as sentences. This is supposed to be conversational in tone, but I just found it distracting and annoying. Would be better as an audiobook.

I liked that she, as a nutritionist, was actively not anti-fat. That is rare in this “health literature” field and she did a nice job of it.

[Guavemily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this felt like getting bullied by a Buzzfeed article.

[Ciara Moran · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth the read but if you do read definitely don't do the audiobook. This was free on the Audible Plus catalogue thank God because I now only have remorse for the time spent on it, not the money spent on it.

If you're looking for a book with actually decently but accessibly conveyed science around food and your body's response to it there's nothing better than Ultra Processed People.

I look forward to never reading another word that Faith G Harper writes.

[happily_reader_after · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was...fine. I did learn some things, a lot of it I already knew (which isn't the book's fault) and I appreciate her attitude against modern medicine, fad diets, and "edible product" that's not really food. Not sure I would recommend it though.

[Tess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not love this one

[Madlin Deignan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars because the content was good and relevant, but one small footnote / portion of the book was very concerning. I’ve been a follower and learner of all things regen agriculture, diet as medicine, energy transfer, local sustainability as health etc for years now and knew a lot of the references in Dr. Harpers book. What did bother me slightly was the lack of order & editing in the book unfortunately. It was littered with grammatical and editing errors. For me that wasn’t the huge issue, though I worried for other readers unfamiliar with these topics it would cause them to take the book less seriously.

What really bothered me was a footnote about women + inflammatory issues. Dr. Harper claimed on pg 43 that the higher incidence of inflammatory issues associated with women is due to our immune systems accepting more pathogens and bacteria because of a higher tolerance in anticipation of pregnancy (the body doesn’t want to reject foreign bodies that will eventually create a baby).

I thought this was a MASSIVE miss. It also is a very dangerous thing to claim as (evidently in the book) the sole reason for women having higher incidence of these issues. Dr. Harper went on to thank birth control for the increase in women not getting pregnant, explicitly saying non-pregnant women are more likely to have “spikey” immune systems, more susceptible to inflammatory issues. I literally went back to check the pub date of the book, because of the HUGE increases in research in the last decade on the negative impact of birth control to women, the high incidence of inflammatory disorder & mental health issues attributed to women with hormonal deficiencies actually ~ associated ~ with birth control use. That birth control, which regulates & suppresses natural hormones in women (that have a direct impact on serotonin production, which Dr. Harper later goes on to chat about in depth on the huge role it plays in inflammatory response) would be thanked, in the context it was, was absolutely offensive. I was really shocked that women’s health was so sparse throughout this book - given it was written by one who was otherwise very knowledgeable on these issues. The book circulates on this concept that we humans are struggling against our modern environment, one that we have created for ourselves that is further and further away from what our bodies naturally need. This part of the book about women was like the exact opposite of that concept. Very frustrating. It hurt me to read that, knowing other women might read that too, and blame their bodies (for the millionth time) for their pain and suffering, rather than taking the loving time to understand what the fuck is going on and why consumption of certain foods, activities, DRUGS may be actually having a larger adverse impact to them than men.

Otherwise I enjoyed the book and found Dr. Harpers commentary funny, and at times a bit abrasive. She definitely helps make science talk more approachable. The women issue above is huge IMO, but I think she does a great job otherwise of containing a fuck load of information & help into a small quick read.

[Vovka · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read -- the first half covers the science of mind-body connections that contribute to health (or lack of it); the second half contains recommendations. The recommendations can basically be boiled down to how to eat well, sleep well, exercise well, supplement well, and manage your stress. I really needed some ideas for the stress management bit, so it was useful for me, but I imagine most folks who are really serious about health would find the recommendations too basic, and I'd recommend single-topic books to people who are really serious about any one of these topics. For example, "Why We Sleep" is a *way* more thorough book on the topic of how to sleep well (and why it's important)... but this isn't a bad jumping-off text.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and I definitely need to go back to check out some of the points the author makes in this book. I liked that it was read by the author, in her own very no-nonsense voice. A lot of science behind what should be common sense, and a large sprinkling of new science to back it up. I like the concept of blending what’s ancient that works and has been proven by science, with what is new and needs more attention by medical professionals as well as the public. Also, I loved the recommendations throughout the book for “where to go to learn more” on some of the subjects she covers. Thorough without being boring. Much appreciated!

[skein · Rating 4 out of 5]

quick lil read with surprisingly little-to-no woo.

there is a lot, a Lot! of information here, primarily focused on practicalities: try this thing for this issue, try that thing for that issue, be careful with this treatment if you have this problem. this is refreshing, since practical measures are DEMONSTRABLY ABSENT in most of the stuff i've read on the mind-body connection ("have you tried yoga?")

the authorial voice is very, ah, distinctive? more like an online article than a typical nonfiction text; that style isn't my thing, and it took awhile to be able to ignore it. probably other people would respond well to it, though.

[Anastasiya M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since last year, I've been a big fan of Faith G. Harper's work, and naturally, I'm eager to devour as many of her books as I can find. Her way of tackling everyday problems is refreshingly honest and direct; she doesn't shy away from acknowledging the challenges we encounter. Her advice is practical and easy to grasp, offering insights that can be applied to our own lives. This book was particularly enlightening, helping me see how our lifestyles impact various aspects of our lives and often complicate things beyond our influence.

https://annietheinkdrinker.wordpress.com

[MJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author turns science and difficult topics into an informative and fun to read explanation on how the body works the way it does. I learned so much about myself and why I could possibly be feeling the way I have. It really put into perspective how diet and habits and environment can take a toll on a human. This was an excellent read for someone into the “why things work the way they do” instead of how things work. I always need the why in order to make things make sense. This book has helped me understand my depression and anxiety a bit more than I had prior to reading.

[Riley Sawyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

How your body interacts with its environment and how to take care of it beyond just “eat healthy” is such a complicated topic and this book really broke things down well while also giving actually helpful advice and next steps for taking care of yourself holistically. Toxins and inflammation, the importance of breath work and meditation, and paying attention more attention to what is in our food are just some things this book looked at deeply.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this on audio. I actually found the content to be interesting, but the audio is absolutely terrible. You can tell that it was recorded at two separate times. The author's cadence and intonation is all over the place and it became super distracting. There were times when she stumbled over words and mispronounced and then repronounced them. I felt like it was a dry run for an actual recording of the book.

[Samantha Melendez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audio book and while the science nerd in me loved all the background information and explanations I could not get past the reading of the book. There were numerous parts of the book where they should have clearly redone the recording due to blunders and errors, but instead didn’t. Also at times the author seemed like she just wanted to rush through her information. I would have given this more stars if I had visually read it.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this author’s style and easy explanations of complicated science. I’ve enjoyed two books by her so far. The reason for my 3 stars is because of how many typos and errors there were in the editing though. One whole paragraph was never finished. The chapters weren’t their own sections so it just kind of ran on with few breaks. They definitely need to update and fix some of those issues for future publications.

[Arminzerella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of ways you can feel better by dealing with things that may have *effed* up your body - trauma, vagal nerve therapies, inflammation, stress, breathing techniques, exercise, sleep, nutrition, supplements, etc. You'll probably want to delve deeper into any of those topics that interest you. Interesting and informative!

[Judith Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. There were a lot of typos which drive me crazy. There may have been some tips that stuck with me, but, for the most part, not a lot of new information for me. The author does use a lot of humor to get her points across. For instance, she refers to the human body as a meat sack and meat puppet. The sections on sleep and supplements I found the most beneficial.

[Nicole Bonfante · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting but pretty surface level. Not too many takeaways for me. I mostly bought it to learn how to sleep better, but that section of the book was SO short, so I’m going to try her sleep book instead.

[p.leer]

now tell me why the audiobook was of such a poor quality. we can edit audio? we can do more than one take?
there was some interesting biology in here. there was also a good chunk of pseudoscience preluded by a few hasty caveats, so not exactly what i came for. respectfully.

[Carter DeCurtis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve been listening through Faith G. Harper’s audiobooks for the past week, and it’s safe to say that they aren’t for me. Way too info-dumpy and science heavy for my taste. Maybe the physical books are different, but the audiobooks are too rushed.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting! Lots of great information about how our body stores stress, what we can do to reduce our stress, and how our environment, habits, and American healthcare system is working against us. I should have done the paper copy over the audible.

[Carmen Beeton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these books because they are quick and easy to get through.
They are also super insightful and help me out a lot when it comes to the science of specific things like the body, brain and other things such as depression and anxiety.

[Carolyn Arbuckle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book if you're just starting to explore neurobiology, Mental Health, it's relation to the body. Very 101 but that makes it an easy read and makes a lot of the information accessible. Would recommend Gabor Maté or "the body keeps the score" for a deeper dive

[lochNessmonster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good advice that was easy to read, although in some sections the writing style made me roll my eyes.

Read the E-Book and there was a shocking amount of typos, but that was most likely just poor formatting and not the author’s fault.